Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
SETH
Pascal and Sabine was my favorite restaurant in Asbury Park. It reminded me of the bistros David and I ate in while we were in Paris. I arrived a little before seven-thirty. I’d walked because parking was too difficult with the tourists taking up all the spaces. Even though it was a Thursday night, the place was crowded. That was summer on the Shore for you.
I greeted the woman standing at the host station. “I’m meeting someone here.” She nodded and gestured toward the back of the restaurant. “Of course, Mr. Morgan. They’re already here.”
Tom and Mark were seated in one of the several semi-circular booths the restaurant boasted. I liked the booths because they gave a sense of intimacy to the dining experience, and it was much easier to talk to everyone at the table. When I got to the table, I noticed a fourth place setting. Tom stood to give me a hug. “Good to see you again. It’s been ages since we’ve gone out together.”
His husband, Mark, also got up to greet me. “Good to see you again, Seth.”
“It is good to be out and about,” I said. “I guess I let myself become a hermit for a while.” I frowned at the extra place setting. “Are we expecting someone else?”
Mark shot a look at Tom, who looked sheepish. “I invited Jon to join us for dinner.”
I narrowed my eyes at Tom. “Are you trying to play matchmaker?”
Mark elbowed Tom. “I told you he wouldn’t like it.”
“Hear me out,” Tom began. “I’m not saying you have to date or anything like that. But what could it hurt to get to know the man? I saw how you looked at him.”
I huffed a sigh of resignation. “Fine. Just don’t push. If it happens, it happens.”
Tom put up his hands in surrender. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Yes, you would,” I scoffed.
“He’s got you there, love,” Mark said with a chuckle.
I took my seat, buzzing with anticipation. I would never tell Tom this, but I was excited to see Jon again. He was a good-looking man and had seemed interested in me. At least, I hoped he was.
I had just picked up the menu when Mark’s eyes widened, and he murmured, “Oh wow.”
I turned my head to find Jon coming toward our table. Oh wow , indeed. He was wearing a cobalt-blue linen shirt over white linen pants. The blue of his shirt accented the sea green of his eyes and highlighted the golden streaks in his sandy-blond hair.
Tom elbowed his husband. “Hey,” he complained.
Mark kissed Tom’s cheek. “I’m married, darling, not dead.”
Tom rose to greet Jon when he got to the table. “Jon, I’m so glad you’re joining us.”
Jon gave him a bright smile. “Thanks for inviting me.”
Tom gestured toward me. “You’ve already met Seth, and this is my husband, Mark.”
After all the greetings, I scooted over so Jon could fit in the booth next to me. I leaned toward him and said quietly, “Tom thinks he’s a matchmaker. It’s fine if you aren’t interested in anything like that.”
Jon turned to face me and gave me another of his brilliant smiles. “But I am interested. Very much.”
My body flushed hot and cold. Jon was a beautiful man. I hadn’t been this truly interested in someone in a long time. All of my previous “dates” and hookups had been me just taking care of my physical needs. I hadn’t been interested in getting to know them any better. Jon was different, although I couldn’t exactly pinpoint why. I cleared my throat. “All right, then. I guess we’ll see where this goes.”
“That works for me,” he replied.
The server came by to take our drink orders. I noticed Jon ordered a soda while the rest of us got our favorite cocktails. I didn’t say anything. First, because it was none of my business, and second, because David had been an alcoholic who’d been sober for thirteen years when he died. Thankfully, neither Tom nor Mark remarked about it either.
The conversation was lively around the table. Mark was teasing Tom about their upcoming vacation. “I swear I’m going to have to pry him out of his office on the day we’re supposed to leave because he’ll have ‘just one more thing’ to get done before he hands the reins over to someone else for two weeks.”
Tom smiled sheepishly but didn’t deny it. “Liam will keep me in line. He’ll kick me out when it’s time for me to leave. He and Mark have conspired against me before.”
We all laughed. “Where is Liam?” I asked. “Is he on vacation?”
Tom shook his head. “His husband, Marco, works for a security firm that sometimes does search and rescue missions overseas to rescue kidnapped executives being held for ransom. Liam goes along as a medic for the team.”
“Well damn,” I said. “And here I was, proud of myself for getting up early and showering.”
Jon snorted. “Don’t compare yourself to Liam. He’s very driven, albeit mostly to keep his husband in one piece. He told me he started going on these missions because the previous medics were doing shoddy work stitching up Marco’s wounds.”
I shook my head. “He never even mentioned it to me.”
Jon shrugged. “He doesn’t talk about it much. He told me because he would have to call me in to cover for him at the last minute. He doesn’t get a lot of warning before they have to leave.”
The server brought our drinks and took our dinner orders. “That reminds me,” I said to Jon, “Tom said you have a private practice. Where is it located?”
“It’s not far,” Jon replied. “In Neptune, close to the hospital.”
“I’m guessing you’re pretty busy,” I mused.
He nodded. “Yeah. I have specialties in psychiatric nursing and family practice nursing. It keeps me busy.”
“Now I feel like I need to get a second job to keep up,” I joked.
Jon turned his head and leaned in close enough to murmur in my ear. “I’m sure you can keep up just fine.”
An honest-to-god shiver ran down my spine and my cock began to fill. This man was not shy and didn’t play games. I liked it. I let my lips brush lightly over his cheek. “I’m certainly willing to try.”
Tom cleared his throat. “Are we interrupting?”
I narrowed my eyes at his triumphant grin. “Not yet. I’ll let you know when you are.”
Jon let out a choked laugh. “I would prefer to move any activities that could be interrupted to a more private location.”
We paused the conversation when the server arrived with our meals. We were quiet as we dug into the delicious food. When I paused to sip my wine, I leaned close to Jon and said, “Let’s go for a walk on the boardwalk after dinner. Then we can decide where we’d like to go from there.”
Another of his beautiful smiles graced his lips. “Sounds good to me.”